Shadows
by MELONYPRIMEINK
Summary: "Earth's mightiest heroes?" "More like Earth's most well known dysfunctional family." "You're not wrong." (Starts with Avengers and continues on till present. There will be plot changes along the way.)
1. The Call

Casey sat alone in the basement workshop of the Miami beach house. Tony was still in New York overseeing the finishing touches on Stark Tower and Pepper was at Stark Industries in meetings all day. Not that the young adult wasn't content to have the house to herself. Nor could she actually tell she was alone, between the music and JARVIS' company.

A half finished project Tony had been working on before they had left for New York to start construction on the tower sat before her. Welding mask on and sparks flying, it was hard to hear much of anything as she grinded the rough edges of the metal down.

"CASEY!"

Casey jumped at the intrusion of JARVIS' voice as he cut power to the grinder so she would hear him. She shed the mask, grinder, and thick gloves angrily.

"Yes, Jarvis?" The red head demanded as she shot the nearest computer screen an annoyed look.

"Your phone is ringing," The AI responded.

"Thank-you," Casey nodded as she walked over to the desk to pick up her cell phone.

"This is Casey."

"Took you long enough, Dove," Clint chuckled from the other end. Casey smiled at the endearment.

Little Dove or just Dove had long ago become Clint's nickname for her as he saw Casey as pure and fragile compared to himself and Natasha.

"Sorry, dad, I was grinding something for Tony. Is something wrong? It's like 3 am there isn't it?"

"SHIELD never sleeps. Nothing's wrong, not yet anyway. I just have one of those impending doom feelings," Clint sighed hard, "I almost tried your mother but I was afraid I might not of had enough time to get both calls in. Or that she wouldn't answer." Casey could hear his smirk.

"Where is mom by the way? I haven't seen her since she worked for Pepper those few weeks last year," Casey inquired.

"I'm not sure actually. I last talked to her just after she completed that mission."

"Well she's obviously still alive because no one's come knocking on the door. That and you're the only person who calls me outside of Tony, Pepper, Happy, and Rodey," she joked half heartedly.

"That can't be true. Your mom doesn't call you?" Clint demanded, suddenly serious and almost angry.

"Never. Dad, the last time she had spoken to me before her "Tony mission" was when I came home after I was kidnapped. I don't even think I'd know her voice if she called."

Clint sighed and Casey could picture him massaging his temples.

"Nat, what are you doing?"

"It's alright, Dad. She's busy, I get that. I was in the way, that's why I was sent to live with Tony. Then I got rescued a freak, I get that too."

"You were not and are not in the way. We sent you to live with Tony because it was too dangerous to keep you close to us. And what happened to you was not your fault. Casey we love you no matter what."

Casey regretted her words. It wasn't Clint's fault she had lived the life she had. It was for the greater good.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too-" Casey sighed and let her head fall in shame, "Sometimes it just feels that way."

"I understand. And remember you can always talk to me. Call me anytime, unless I'm dead or without my phone I'll always answer for you."

"YA lyublyu tebya, papa," Casey whispered, smiling fondly despite herself.

Casey could hear her father smile, "YA tozhe lyublyu tebya-"

The line cut.

"I'm sorry, Casey. It appears it came from your father's end," JARVIS apologized as the music faded back in.

"He'll be fine. He always is," Casey replied, her tone unconvincing, "Play me some AC/DC."

JARVIS accommodated her request with Highway To Hell and an electronic sigh, "Sometimes I do forget that you are not Mr. Stark's daughter."

The comment was ignored as Casey brushed a few falling pieces of hair out of her eyes and put the welding mask back on. Sparks flew seconds later as she turned her attention back to the project before her.

TRANSLATIONS

YA lyublyu tebya, papa.

I love you, dad.

YA tozhe lyublyu tebya-

I love you too-


	2. The Avengers Protocol

"You're good on this end. The rest is up to you," Tony said over the comm.

"You disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?" Pepper asked him, worry think in her voice.

Casey leaned back on the couch and stared at the tablet in her hands. She just wanted to see if she had done everything right this time.

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy," Tony replied.

"Implying the reactor takes over and it actually works," Casey commented as she clicked through the various things she was monitoring.

"If your designs are sound and our math was correct. Light her up, Pepper."

Pepper turned the power switch on and both women stared in awe as they watched the STARK sign outside lite up. Pepper turned and smiled at the younger woman on the couch.

Casey Barton: the daughter of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye and Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. At only 4 years old her mother had decided that it would be better for Casey to live Tony. Really it had just been so she could run around for SHIELD all she wanted without having to worry about Casey and later her experiment caused abilities.

"How does it look?" Pepper asked Tony as she turned back to the monitor.

"Like Christmas, but with more... me," Tony replied cheekily.

Pepper rolled her eyes and Casey chuckled.

"Gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. I can do some more tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next billboards," Pepper started to rant.

"Pepper, you're killing me. Remember? Enjoy the moment."

The CEO suddenly dawned a playful smirk, "Then get in here and I will."

"Please do remember that you live with someone besides Tony," Casey spoke as she sat up.

"Only if you'll stop encouraging Tony to build dangerous things," Pepper shot back as she looked over her shoulder.

"Iron Man isn't dangerous! Well, unless you're a bad guy," Casey exclaimed in defense.

"And we have such an incredible record of that."

"Udalite pedal', poka ona yeshche bezopasna!"

Pepper ignored her and stared up at the monitors of the reactor device as Tony came inside the penthouse.

"Levels are holding steady... I think," Pepper told him as he walked up to her.

"Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?" Tony asked.

"Well, ha, I really wouldn't know you two now, would I?" She laughed harshly.

Casey knew exactly where this was going. She sat up and filled a glass with champagne to watch the developing show with in place of popcorn.

"What do you mean? All this came from you."

"No. All this came from that," She argued as she pointed to the mini arc reactor in his chest.

"Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself…" Tony thought on it for half a second, "Twelve percent of the credit."

"Twelve percent?" Pepper came over to kneel on the floor beside the coffee table.

"An argument can be made for fifteen."

"Twelve percent? Of my baby?"

"Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you."

"Oooooh."

"My private elevator..."

"Our," Casey corrected immediately.

"...was teeming with sweaty workmen," he shot Casey a "you're not helping" look, "I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?" Tony asked as Pepper poured herself and Tony a glass of the champagne.

"Not gonna be that subtle," She smiled as she held out a glass to him.

"I'll tell you what. Next building's gonna say 'Potts' on the tower," Tony offered.

"On the lease," Pepper countered as she retracted the glass.

"...Call your mom, can you bunk over?" Tony joked as he stole the glass anyway.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten," JARVIS suddenly informed them.

"Stark, we need to talk," Coulson's voice came from Tony's phone.

Tony picked up his phone and looked into it at Coulson.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message." Tony said in the most monotheistic voice he could manage.

"This is urgent."

"Then leave it urgently." He was far less monotone and far more annoyed.

The elevator door opened and Coulson walked towards them.

"Security breach," Tony pointed at the agent, "That's on you," he continued to Pepper."Mr. Stark," Coulson grinned as she stood, "Phil! Come in."

"Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent." Tony followed her towards Coulson.

"Come on in, we're celebrating," Pepper continued, ignoring Tony.

"Which is why he can't stay," Tony muttered.

"We need you to look this over," Coulson said as he held out a file towards Tony, "Soon as possible."

"I don't like being handed things."

"That's alright, cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade." Pepper said as she passed her glass of champagne to Coulson and took the file from him. She then proceeded to take Tony's champagne glass and pass the file over to him while saying, "Thank you."

Tony shifted the file in his hands, "Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," Tony said obviously still annoyed that Coulson was there.

"This isn't a consultation," Coulson told him."Is this about The Avengers?" Pepper gasped. Coulson gave her a surprised look and she panicked, "Which I… I know nothing about."

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify," Tony replied as he walked towards his desk opening the files.

"I didn't know that either," Pepper said to Coulson.

"It was. The council shot it down. And that's no surprise Tony," Casey spoke up as she stood.

Coulson smiled and waved at the red head genuinely surprised to see her well after so long in Tony's care. Casey waved back as she walked around the couch.

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others," Tony added.

"That I did know," Pepper smiled.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Coulson said as he leaned over to speak around Pepper directly to Tony.

"Whatever," Tony muttered before calling Pepper over, "Miss Potts, got a minute?"

Pepper walked over as Tony walked to place the files on the desk.

"You know, I thought we were having a moment," He commented.

"I was having twelve percent of a moment," She shot back. Casey did a spit-take, nearly soaking Coulson in pink champagne. "This seems serious, Phil's pretty shaken."

Tony frowned, "How did you notice? Why is he Phil?"

Pepper ignored the questions, "What is all of this?"

"This is, uh..." Tony started before he expanded his arms and different profiles appeared in holographic form floating in the air in front of the two of them, "This." He finished.

Casey stared in awe at what was before them. Screens had appeared showing Captain America in action, the Hulk roaring as he attacked the army at Culver University, Thor fighting the Destroyer, her parents at Budapest, and another of a black haired man dressed in green next to a holographic Tesseract.

Pepper was staring in awe at it all while Tony just stared at it blankly.

"I'm going to take the jet to D.C. tonight," Pepper finally spoke.

"Tomorrow," Tony argued as he turned to her.

She shook her head, "You've got homework," she looked back up at the file, "You've got a lot of homework."

"Well, what if I didn't?" Tony inquired curiously.

"If you didn't?"

"Yeah."

"You mean if you finished? Well, um...then..." Pepper started before whispering something in Tony's ear making him gasp.

Casey rubbed her temples in annoyance and noticed Coulson looking away in embarrassment.

"Welcome to my life."

"Square deal. Fly safe," Tony said before Pepper kissed him.

"Work hard," She responded softly before walking over to Coulson.

"Want me to go with her?" Casey asked as she walked past her to Tony's side.

"You can't," He replied as he grabbed the Tesseract in holograph form and stared at it, obviously worried.

"Why not?" Casey asked, confused.

"Cause this is for you too."

He expanded a file that had been hiding behind the others before. SHADOW donned the top of the file while various videos continued playing. All showing Casey either using her hand-to-hand combat skills or a gun. Somehow they also had a few short clips of the few times she had used her shadow wielding abilities in public.

She stared at it in shock, confusion, and awe, her red head hair falling into her eyes. She brushed it to the side and blinked hard to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

SHIELD wanted her to be an Avenger?

TRANSLATIONS

Udalite pedal', poka ona yeshche bezopasna!

Pedal off while it's still safe!


	3. Loki, The Legend, and The God of Thunder

Casey didn't feel bad about not recognizing her mother's voice when she had gotten a call the day after Coulson had shown up. However Natasha must've felt bad judging by the tone of her voice after the awkward exchange that started their conversation.

That was how Tony and Casey ended up on their way to Germany.

Natasha had called to tell them that Loki was in Germany and had asked them to come in case she and Captain America needed help. The older woman had also decided that the best way to follow up that news was to tell Casey that Clint was being mind controlled by Loki.

Casey and Tony had immediately suited up- him in the Ironman suit and her decked out in black leather- and headed off for Germany after the call.

"Can't you fly any faster Tony?" Casey complained."Yeah. If you wanna lose your face." He adjusted his hold on the petite girl.

"I should've stolen a quinjet," Casey grumbled as she rapped her knuckles against the face mask.

"Hey! Don't do that, Casey!" He exclaimed.

"Opps let me apologize. I'm sorry, Jarvis, that was for Tony not you," Casey replied completely serious.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Tony sighed sarcastically.

"How much longer? My legs are starting to fall asleep."

"15 minutes at this pace, Casey," JARVIS told her through an earpiece in her ear. It allowed her to talk to the AI, who has been her best friend ever since she had met him, freely in battle.

Casey grinned, "Thanks, Jarvis. Hurry up, Tony!"

Tony barely sped up but Casey kept quiet.

"Give me a scan. Who's who and where are they?" Tony ordered as they approached their destination.

Casey's red head hair went nearly white as she used the shadows to scan the area below them, "Black Widow is in the quinjet at 12 o'clock. Captain America is on the ground fighting Loki. I count at least 200 hostages," she reported, her hair returning to its natural red.

"Jarvis hack the quinjet's speakers and play me some Shoot to Thrill will ya?" Tony requested as he prepared to make his entrance.

"Yes sir," JARVIS replied.

Tony shifted Casey until he was holding her only by the arms and flew towards Captain America and Loki as AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill started playing from the quinjet's speakers.

"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?" Tony asked snarkily as he flew over the quinjet.

He let Casey go and she dropped, standing as a human shield between the hostages and Loki after she hit the ground. Both Captain America and Loki looked up at the sky as Tony flew up and blasted Loki to the ground. He touched down as Casey put her heel to Loki's throat and point a SHIELD regulated handgun at him.

Tony spoke for them both, "Make your move, Reindeer Games." Casey glared at the demigod as Tony readied his weapons behind her.

Loki put up his hands and surrendered, his armor materializing away into regular clothing.

"Good move," Tony said as he put away his weapons and Casey lowered her gun.

"Captain," Tony replied before giving Casey a once over, "Where did you hide that?"

Casey waited for the quinjet to land before she answered, "Specially made outfit."

"Okay, next question: how did you get them?" Tony continued as he turned so she could walk by.

"Director Fury still gives birthday presents," she smirked back at her guardian before she entered the quinjet.

Tony and Captain America dealt with getting Loki on the jet while Casey went to greet her mother.

"Hi mom," Casey said to the back of Natasha's head.

"Casey," Natasha smiled as she turned and got up. She rushed over to wrap Casey in a rare and awkward hug.

Casey awkwardly hugged her back before Tony, Steve, and Loki walked on to the jet and they had to prepare to leave.

Natasha flew the jet, Loki was tied up and cuffed to his seat, and Tony and Steve kept their distance and started whispering to each other. Casey sighed as she straightened her ponytail before she made her way up to sit by Natasha."Anything on dad?" She asked quietly."Not yet. I'm hoping Loki can tell us something though. That's why I came," Natasha replied.Casey played with her hands, "Thanks for calling. I know you don't want me in your life but I appreciate you letting me know personally."

Natasha didn't answer.

Suddenly something landed hard on the roof of the jet. Before anyone could question it the ramp opened and Thor flew in, grabbing Loki by the throat and flying off again.

Steve, Tony, and Casey stared for a minute in shock, astonishment, and horror respectively. Casey pulled out her ponytail again while Tony put the Iron Man helmet on.

"Now there's that guy," he muttered angrily."Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked as she looked over her shoulder."That's what we're about to find find out." With that Casey ran to the back and leapt out the back of the plane without a parachute.

"Shit! That's my que," Tony cursed as he flew after the red head to catch her.

"Dropping." Was the only warning Casey got before she tumbled along the ground and Tony flew on at the brothers.

"You listen well, brother. I..." Thor started only for him to be tackled off the mountain by Iron Man.

Casey nearly laughed from her place in the dirt.

"I know your there girl," The god suddenly said.

"Well duh. Pretty sure I made some noise as I oh so gracefully was dropped," Casey shot back.

"That is true," Loki smirked, "Well at least get out of the dirt."

Casey stood and brushed herself off as Loki studied her.

"Whatever your thinking, don't. Unless it's that I'm about to kick your ass and take you back into custody," Casey spoke before glaring up at him.

Loki grinned almost as if he genuinely found her funny.

"Cut the crap. We're grabbing the squabbling children and then we're leaving."

Before he could answer she grabbed his arm.

"What are you-"

She shadow jumped cutting off his question.

They showed up to the fight just after Steve had. Clearly no one had filled Steve in on Casey's skill set as the man was both startled and confused by her sudden appearance in front of him.

Steve threw his shield again and it ricocheted off both Thor and Ironman, effectively stopping them from continuing their fight. Casey caught the shield as it flew more towards Loki and her than Steve.

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!" Thor interrupted him harshly."Seems more like a master plan so far. But that's just my opinion," Casey commented making Loki laugh. He was silenced when an elbow was jabbed up under his rib cage.

Steve ignored Casey's sarcasm, "Then prove it! Put the hammer down."

"Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!" Tony exclaimed as he stepped forward only to be backhanded by said hammer.

Casey didn't see what happened next as Loki had grabbed her and yanked her down to the ground as a shockwave rippled out across the clearing making it even bigger.

She sat up and looked around at the damage thoroughly impressed."New power tag team!" Casey cheered as Tony mirrored her actions.

Natasha was radioed and they were on their way again.


	4. Another Hero

Casey stood near a large glass table with the other heroes as they watched Fury interrogate Loki on the monitor that sat in the center of them."In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass," Fury lifted the plastic shield that covered a large red button, "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He gestured to Loki, "Ant," and then gestured to the button, "Boot."

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me," Loki smirk in response."Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard," Loki's smirk grew to a devilish grin, "The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?" Fury glared, "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun," he shook his head as if he had seen the last bit so often that it was almost humorously predictable, "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what?" Loki thought for half a second before quoting Fury himself, "A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

Fury scoffed and walked out of the cage area, "Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something." He called back to Loki before the monitor shut off.

Everyone stood or sat there in a heavy silence until Bruce finally spoke up, "He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked as he turned in his chair to face the demigod.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor explained after taking a second to snap himself back to present reality.

Steve's jaw almost visibly dropped, "An army?" He looked across the table at Natasha and Casey, "From outer space?"

"No, from the dumpster behind Dairy Queen," Casey muttered half heartedly. Steve stared at her as if he believed she was serious, which he probably did. She scoffed, "Yes, from space."

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for," Bruce mentioned."Selvig?" Thor questioned as he looked up at Bruce."He's an astrophysicist." Bruce started to explain.Thor stopped him, "He's a friend."

Bruce nodded in understanding.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours," Natasha informed them as she took Casey's hand and squeezed it which was returned.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve said as if he was thinking aloud.Bruce almost laughed, "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"Aye," Casey agreed.

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother," Thor responded angrily.Natasha didn't bother to look up as she glared at the table, "He killed eighty people in two days."

There was a pause.

"He's adopted," Thor replied sheepishly."Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Bruce asked steering them back on to the topics at hand.Before Casey could provide the answer Tony walked in with Coulson, "It's a stabilizing agent," he turned to Coulson as if finishing a conversation, "Pick a weekend. I'll fly you there. Keep the love alive."

Coulson smiled appreciatively before nodding and walked off."Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD," Casey explained referring to the Iridium as Tony walked over to join them.

"No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." Tony said to Thor, patting him on the arm as he walked by, "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants," He added to Casey's explanation before turning to the crew with, "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails."

No one moved for a minute.

Tony instantly got annoyed, "That man is playing Galaga!" He pointed at the culprit, "Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."

The others looked over and sure enough, there was a guy who had obviously been playing Galaga.

"How does Fury do this?" Tony asked Hill as he covered one eye and turned to try and see the controls he was at.

"He turns," Hill shrugged before returning to her work.

"Well, that sounds exhausting," he muttered, "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube," he continued as he walked back towards the group.

"Last night," no one but Casey seemed to know what he was talking about, "The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony asked.

"You read it all to me as if it was a bedtime story and I'm 22," Casey huffed only earning a shrug.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce replied almost instantaneously.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony added.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

Tony grinned as he walked over to Bruce, "Finally, someone who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Steve muttered as he turned in his chair again."Believe it or not," Casey laughed as she flopped down into one of the chairs opposite him.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster," Tony calmly stated as he shook Bruce's hand.

"Thanks." Bruce didn't seem so appreciative of all of Tony's praise.

Fury walked in and instantly joined the conversation, "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon," Steve told them."I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys," Fury responded heatedly."Monkeys?" Thor looked up, perplexed, "I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve exclaimed excitedly before calming down again, "I understood that reference," he was obviously proud of himself.

"I'd hope so," A new voice came from behind him.Casey spun around in the chair she was now sitting sideways in and everyone stared over Steve's head at the chocolate haired woman behind him. Her uniform was red, blue, and gold like a modern take on Wonder Woman's uniform. Only the woman's was most definitely armor made to take a hit yet there was only armor on her torso, wrists, and her boots from her knees down to allow from the movement of an active and almost gymnast style fighter. A sword and shield hung between her shoulders and a gold whip hung from her left hip.

"You're late." Fury's tone was stern despite his small smile.

"Sorry I got a little held up. Had to bail my team out of the tight spot they put themselves in." She smiled in return, her hazel eyes seeming to glitter.

"That better be what it was. Because Ace if I find out you were off with some guy-" Fury started in a father like tone.

"Come on. You and I both know that no man can handle me," Ace laughed.

"Alice?"

Everyone stared at Steve who had turned around in his chair to view the newcomer.

"I'm sorry? Are you talking to me?" Ace asked as she turned back to the soldier.

"Yes," He responded.

Ace stared at him in both shock and confusion.

"Ace wouldn't know."

"What?" Natasha questioned as she shifted around.

Fury sighed before he explained himself, "We found Ace in a wreckage of an old Hydra base. We assume she managed to take the base out before whatever caused her amnesia occurred. She has no clue who she is and neither do we."

Steve frowned down at the floor, "Well, she remembers that damn nickname Stark gave her. You hated it when he called you Ace."

"I'm sure she would love to hear about herself from someone who knew her personally."

Casey sat up, "You knew her, Cap?" she asked as she leaned on the table.

The soldier nodded slowly, his eyes still trained on the floor, "And Tony's father. He's the one that called Alice "Ace" to begin with."

The redhead's eyes flew to Tony who stood beside Bruce silently. She watched him carefully as he watched Steve. He felt her gaze and looked over to meet it. He gestured that he was fine and she nodded as she relaxed back into her chair.

"So my name is Alice then?"

"Yeah. Alice Roux."

Ace shifted her weight awkwardly as she stood under the gazes of most of the heroes.

"Shall we play, doctor?" Tony asked quickly to spare the woman.

"Anybody got any ideas on what to do?"

"None," Ace said as she came to sit next to Casey.

"Well, I'm Casey Barton by the way," Casey smiled as she stuck out her hand.

"Ace," Ace replied as she shook Casey's hand.

Casey looked across the table to Steve, "Cap?" she asked softly. He didn't answer, "Steve?" she tried again and he startled out of his daze.

"I'm sorry. I was lost in thought," he apologized, "Steve Rogers."

* * *

An hour or so later the three of them were pretty well versed in one another.

Ace was missing most of her life. She woke up a few months ago in the hospital with nothing but her nickname and a centuries old sword. Fury had shown up and taken her in. She had worked for SHIELD ever since.

Casey had told them about growing up with Tony and even somehow managed to get through telling her powers had been the result of kidnapping and experimentation by a stray Hydra organization.

Steve hadn't had much to tell about his time since waking up so he told them about Brooklyn and Bucky and the war and his time with Alice.

"It's been awhile since everyone disappeared," Steve mentioned.

Casey rapped her knuckles on the glass tabletop as she leaned in to speak to him, "Shall we go find the others?"

Steve shrugs to which Casey nods and they stand.

Ace shook her head, "I'm gonna go check in with Fury."

"Suit yourself," Casey told her before leading Steve to the lab where she knew Tony and Bruce would be.


End file.
